Manchester United player ratings v Liverpool

“[Partnered] with Matuidi [in the France team], I think he isn't happy”

Jose Mourinho on Paul Pogba

Sam Allardyce has blasted United striker Romelu Lukaku for his defensive efforts against Liverpool.

The Belgium international has impressed under Mourinho but Allardyce reckons he needs to work harder to help his team out defensively.

“If you see Lukaku, this is a typical centre-forward,” he said.

“He’s got his defensive responsibility in phase one. And then phase two ‘well I’ve got to get up the pitch now’.

“We had this a little bit with Christian Benteke last year and we’d say ‘no Christian, you’ve got to stay there’.

“If the ball drops to a Liverpool player, you must stay where you are and defend that second phase.

“So it certainly gave Liverpool a chance there.”

Liverpool parked the bus against United, Graeme Souness claims.

United and Liverpool played out a boring 0-0 stalemate at Anfield yesterday, with the Red Devils having just one shot on target.

Mourinho, who hit out at Jurgen Klopp after the game, was slammed for his defensive tactics.

However, Souness says Liverpool were set up to shut out United, claiming Klopp is also at fault.

“Liverpool fans know that while Mourinho teams like to park the bus on the road this often leads to them nicking a goal on the counter-attack remember Chelsea's 2-0 victory at Anfield in 2014 which knocked Liverpool off their stride in the title run-in,” Souness wrote in his Times column.

“This clearly influenced Jurgen Klopp's approach.

“As conservative as Mourinho's tactics were, the Liverpool manager was hardly putting an accent on attack when he named Can, Henderson and Wijnaldum in midfield.

“Mourinho feeds on tactical naivety with the kind of avidity you find in a starving vulture chancing upon a carcass, so going all-out attack only to lose 1-0 was not an outcome that Liverpool, with just one win in their past seven games, could countenance.”